Interesting view into Venture Capital in Austin

LiveOak Ventures’ Venu Shamapant’s blog post is a good reminder that Venture Capital firms have to raise money themselves. And the process sure sounds a lot like what entrepreneurs go through to raise funds. In particular Venu shares the challenges of raising a first fund, and how many meetings it took to get to the fund raised:

At least 46 road trips with an average of 2–3 nights on the road.

197 formal in-person meetings — mostly first time meetings and do not include any follow up meetings or due-diligence visits.

I attempted to count calls but gave up very quickly.

154 LPs met in person (thousands contacted by email and cold calling). Only 15 of these were LPs that we knew before, so almost 90% of LPs met and presented to were new to us.

In the end, LiveOak raised a $109MM fund, based in Austin, TX. But for those wondering where the investment dollars are here in Austin, Venu gives great context as to how and why the money doesn’t just appear out of thin air. Ultimately, the success of funds like LiveOak will determine what the future of local VC funding in Austin will be.